Olympics 2021: Boomers to face Argentina, then winner of USA v Spain in horror draw
A blockbuster clash against the US Dream Team is within reach after the Boomers copped a tough draw in their quest for a basketball medal.
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There’ll be no easy route to a first-ever Olympic medal for the Australian Boomers despite Brian Goorjian’s team finishing atop their group in Tokyo.
While three wins established Australia as a real contender, it also booked them a tough quarter-final showdown against Argentina at 10pm AEST on Tuesday, with the winner of Team USA vs. Spain waiting for them in the semi-final if they get that far.
Australia discovered their fate on Sunday night when the newly-implemented draw system to decide the knockout stages proved somewhat unhelpful to an undefeated Boomers team.
After working their way into the desired first pot, Australia was ultimately hurt by the fact Italy and Germany also secured passage to the quarter-final stage. Unable to be drawn against a nation from their group, the Boomers were left with two options – either Argentina or Spain.
And while Argentina, who finished behind Slovenia and Spain in Group C, was probably who the Boomers were hoping for, they certainly aren’t a traditional third-place team. On the other side of the bracket, France drew Italy, while Slovenia will face Germany.
Australia beat Argentina last month when a Patty Mills buzzer-beater proved the difference in a Las Vegas warm-up game.
In Tokyo, Argentina has struggled; albeit against tough opposition. After being thrashed by new boys on the block Slovenia, they were then beaten by Spain, before booking their place in the quarter-finals with a win over Japan.
While the Boomers are 3-0 in tournament play, they’ve been far from perfect. Against Nigeria, things were tough until the fourth quarter. Italy pushed them all the way in their second game, before Australia struggled at times against Germany, before pulling away.
Australia will need to be at their very best from this point on, beginning on Tuesday.
EARLIER: BOOMERS HOLD ON AGAINST NIGERIA
After a less-than-convincing win over Nigeria in their Olympic opener, Boomers head coach Brian Goorjian admitted Australia had to be “a lot better” if they wanted to win gold in Tokyo.
On Wednesday night, they took a step in the right direction against a tough Italian team that made them work for the full 40 minutes to secure their second win at the Games.
The Boomers triumphed 86-83 inside the Saitama Super Arena in a thriller that saw Australia finally find a way to slow down a free-flowing Italian offence in the final period.
Italy, competing in their first Olympics since 2004 after downing international powerhouse Serbia to qualify, had 45 points at the half, and 62 after three quarters.
But through the first six minutes of the fourth, they managed just five points in a stretch that ultimately decided the game.
It was a final quarter Australia dominated when it mattered as the Boomers proved they could do it as a collective.
“I thought we played a much better game of basketball,” Goorjian said.
“Offensively we moved the ball better, less turnovers, and got better shots.
“And then I thought in the second half … the defence was the determining factor.”
Jock Landale (18 points), Nicholas Kay (15) and Aron Baynes (14) made up for Patty Mills’ quiet night as they combined for 47 points, and maybe more importantly, 13 offensive rebounds, in a dominant front-court display.
Baynes left the game late after a fall, but Goorjian said the team was “optimistic” he would be fine.
“Our bigs were huge today,” Joe Ingles said. “The rebounds, tip-outs – they got us a ton of extra possessions.”
The Boomers had 22 turnovers against Nigeria and halved that tally against Italy as they put themselves in pole position to top Group B ahead of a clash with Germany on Saturday.
Italy had beaten Germany in their opener, and behind Simone Fontecchio’s 22 points and Nico Mannion’s 21 points proved they can compete with the Games’ best.
While Australia struggled to defend the paint, Australia’s big men proved the difference at the other end as Goorjian’s team scored 17 second chance points compared to Italy’s five.
“You can’t win a competition with one man,” Goorjian said of a game where others stepped up as Mills scored just 16 points.
Italy took a 45-44 lead into the break on a night Australia had to be at the races offensively to just keep pace.
It was in the second half that the defence of the Boomers really came to the fore; a hustling, switching, small-ball system giving the Italians nightmares to start the fourth quarter.
A 75-67 cushion with less than five minutes left ultimately proved enough for Australia, despite Italy finding some offence with time running out.
“We’re very happy to have two wins,” Matthew Dellavedova said post-game. “But I think we all feel there’s still room for improvement.”
“ … I think that’s the key. There’s a lot of time in the tournament. How can you get better on those days off in-between [games]?”
FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED FROM THE WIN
1. LANDALE AND BAYNES ARE BACK
Boomers big men Jock Landale and Aron Baynes were quiet in Australia’s first win over Nigeria, but they produced much improved efforts against Italy.
Landale aggressively went after the game versus the Italians with intent attacking the rim to finish with eight points and three rebounds in the first half.
The championship-winning Melbourne United star maintained the scoring in the second half while he defended and rebounded strongly with countless hustle plays.
Baynes found his groove from range with consecutive triples in the opening half before continuing his scoring form in the second half.
The Boomers’ big man depth has been questioned following Andrew Bogut’s retirement, so the pressure is on Landale and Baynes to perform.
2. QUESTION MARKS OVER SOBEY
Nathan Sobey was brilliant for the Brisbane Bullets in the NBL this season, but calls are growing louder for him to make way in the rotation for fellow guard Josh Green.
Sobey has looked tentative at stages while he missed easy looks. Green is widely regarded as a player who deserves more court time given his dogged defence and athleticism running the floor.
3. BOOMERS MUST FIND A BETTER WAY TO ADJUST
The Australians faced their biggest test versus Italy since losing to France in the 2019 World Cup bronze medal game.
The French’s fast tempo game and ability to keep Patty Mills and others quiet offensively killed off the Aussies' maiden medal dreams.
Italy played a similar game to the French and the Boomers looked like they had no answers at stages. The Aussies struggled to stop the Italians from scoring in the paint while their offence looked stagnant.
Italy restricted Mills to just seven points in the first half.
The Aussies kept finding a way to reel in the Italians, but if the Boomers want to advance deep in this tournament, they’ll need to better limit their rivals’ runs.
4. EXUM’S NBA STOCK IS RISING, THYBULLE CAN BE A BOOMER FOR LIFE
Dante Exum’s standout form for the Boomers during this Olympic campaign will do his NBA contract aspirations the world of good.
Exum, a free agent, has been brilliant for the Aussies coming off the bench and running the point.
His athleticism is a welcomed addition to this Boomers side while it’s just fantastic to see him healthy after an injury-interrupted NBA career to date.
Meanwhile, Matisse Thybulle continued his outstanding form coming off the bench for the Boomers with brilliant play at both ends of the floor. Ben Simmons’ Philadelphia 76ers teammate has Australia’s permission to don the green and gold for life.
5. KAY THE UNSUNG HERO
Nick Kay is the glue that keeps the Boomers together. He defends, screens, rebounds, and makes others look better with selfless passing. Former championship-winning Melbourne United guard Peter Hooley perfectly summed up Kay on Twitter: “Nick does all those little things that make him the perfect fit on any team”.
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France has pulled off the most extraordinary of upsets to rock Team USA in the most damning proof yet that this American outfit is not a true Dream Team.
Led by a 28-point effort from star guard Evan Fournier, who drilled the go-ahead three-point shot with a minutes to go and snatched up the match-sealing steal with 17 seconds on the clock, the French did the unthinkable – they beat the USA 83-76 to open the Olympics.
It’s the USA’s first Olympic loss since 2004, when they picked up a bronze medal – while acknowledging that anything short of gold is an enormous failure for this nation.
Since then Team USA have won the past three Olympic golds in a canter, barely raising a sweat in Rio de Janeiro five years ago – their third straight Olympics finishing with a perfect record.
And, yes, there are names missing from this team. There’s no LeBron James. Steph Curry is also at home, just like James Harden and Kawhi Leonard.
But this is still an All-Star outfit that has arguably the best player in the world, Kevin Durant and a supporting cast of genuine superstars of the game.
There’s Portland’s Damien Lillard, Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Phoenix gunslinger Devin Booker. Milwaukee Bucks duo Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday are fresh off their NBA championship secured last week.
And still they had no answers for a French team who was defiantly led by Fournier and Utah veteran Rudy Gobert.
For the USA, the alarm bells are officially ringing as loudly as they have since those 2004 Games in Athens which inspired the likes of James to revive the ‘Dream Team’ concept.
Boom! Aussies demolish giant-killing contenders
Boomers head coach Brian Goorjian admitted his team will have to be “a lot better” if they’re going to accomplish their goal of a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
It was only two weeks ago that a Boomers ‘B’ team – that rested its big four – were 39 points better than Nigeria in a Las Vegas exhibition game.
This time around, in Australia’s Olympic opener, Goorjian had to settle for an 84-67 win after a performance that was as promising as it was sloppy.
There was nothing pretty about the Group B clash inside the Saitama Super Arena, with the two teams combining for 46 turnovers – Australia contributing 22 of their own – in a game where the arena’s buzzer couldn’t even do its job properly.
Still, the Boomers did enough as their defence – on which they’ve hung their hat – once again proved elite, while the offence mustered what was necessary to pull away late and get over the line.
Two nights after carrying the flag, Patty Mills again played national hero as he drained 25 points. Joe Ingles and Dante Exum were next best with 11 apiece as the Boomers held Nigeria to just 27 points in the second half.
“We didn’t play as well as we would have liked,” Mills said post-game. “There’s a lot of things we can clean up to get better. But we understand that we need to build, we need to grow.
“ … We hung in there together as a group. We understand that we’re going to need every single person in this locker room to get the job done and be the last team standing.”
Nigeria, a unit filled with NBA talent that stunned Team USA and Argentina in the lead-up to Tokyo, has built a system on long, multidimensional athletes who make things hard for the opposition on defence and push the pace on offence.
And they certainly made life difficult for the Australians as a messy 40 minutes of basketball saw the Boomers walk off the court knowing they’d been in a scrap.
“I think you’ve got to give a lot of credit to Nigeria and the way that they play,” Ingles said.
“They’re a very, very good basketball team,” Ingles added. “ … There’s a lot of things we can improve on, a lot of things we can fix up.”
With Goorjian’s team entering the competition with defence their main focus, the Boomers got off to the perfect start; forcing 13 first-half turnovers. The only problem? Australia had 11 of their own.
A defensive stop sandwiched by threes from Matthew Dellavedova and Mills looked to give Australia the push they needed to run away after the break, but the Boomers were once again dragged back into an ugly, physical encounter.
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It was only in the fourth quarter, with the Nigerian offence stuck in the mud, that Australia, who shot 46 per cent from deep, was able to put some distance between themselves and their African rivals.
“We’re going to have to be a lot better,” Goorjian said, while suggesting that a rushed preparation meant there was little reason to worry at this stage.
“I think we will get better,” he said. “The goal for a long period of time for these guys [has been] gold. And I don’t think tonight sent a message that we can’t do it.”
Next up, Australia will face Italy, who beat Germany earlier on Sunday to join the Boomers atop the group.
FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED FROM THE WIN
THE BIG MAN DILEMMA
Aron Baynes returned to the Boomers’ starting line-up for his first game since going down with a knee injury early in the stunning victory over the USA two weeks ago.
In his absence Australia relied on a rotation of Jock Landale, Duop Reath and Nick Kay – to great effect as they upset the US and then routed Nigeria.
Baynes is the first-choice centre in Brian Goorjian’s team, but he looked rusty against Nigeria, and in a offence that’s struggling in the half-court a big man who can distribute is important – like Andrew Bogut was for so many years
Landale showed off his passing skills with a lovely dish to Kay in the third quarter and something Goorjian will be looking for more of from all his bigs.
DANTE’S SCARE
Dante Exum was drafted No.5 in the NBA as an explosive guard who was a genuine difference maker on the court.
Things haven’t exactly panned out as he’d like but a handful of injuries – including an ACL – will do that to you.
So when he goes down – and punches the protective padding around the hoop – you take notice.
Like in the middle of the third quarter, when he was fouled going for a lay-up, came down hard and gave attention to his left ankle.
Luckily he bounced back to his feet, and showed potential NBA franchises he can still get up with a nice two-hand dunk in the first half.
UGLY BEAUTIFUL
It might not be everybody’s cup of tea, but the defence on offer from Australia could bring a tear to Goorjian’s eye.
Defensively, you can get away with a lot more in international basketball.
It’s the thing that has seemingly taken the US team the most time to adjust to – that under FIBA rules, referees let defenders get away with a little bit more contact than they’re used to in the NBA.
But it works in Australia’s favour, because in Matisse Thybulle, Matthew Dellavedova and Josh Green, the Boomers have a bevy of tenacious defenders willing to push boundaries.
It could lead to some scrappy performances. But in close games, you know they won’t give up any stretches of easy points.
THE JOY OF MATISSE
Speaking of Matisse … Australia’s livewire newcomer continues to produce a handful of highlight plays every game.
He has instantly become one of Australia’s most invaluable player and is excelling in every area of his game: perimeter shooting, fast-break points, powerful dunks and, of course, the defensive pressure.
His energy off the bench is incredible as is, well, basically everything he brings to this team.
DEEP THREATS
The Boomers will live and die by the three-point shot in this tournament, and that’s fine. That’s what international basketball is all about.
Australia might have had a horrible 22 turnovers against Nigeria – there’s no nice way to put that – but they overcame those offensive concerns by shooting a respectable 46 per cent from deep.
Patty Mills was the key contributor here, hitting 5-8, and he and Joe Ingles (2-5) will carry a lot of the offensive weight, along with sharpshooter Chris Goulding who played limited minutes and put up just two shots.
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